The Book: 2004 FOOTBALL

[CajunRebel]

manizzle, I understand your frustration. Believe me, I understand. But before you start to criticize a 14-7 win over Northwestern, you have to look at the fact that we lost to them in our last three meetings. You are absolutely right when you say that we have a LONG way to go, but we are definitely making progress. It may not be as quick as you would like, but that’s just something you will have to accept because quite frankly we don’t have the resources (community support, **money**, facilities, conference affiliation, marketing, etc.) to make quick progress. The best advice I could ever give you or any other Cajun fan is to just be patient. We just went through a horrible 10 years of football, and it will take a little time to get things going again.

[CajunNation]

Originally posted by manizzle
I saw the scoreboard and it said that we only won 14 to 7. If you take this victory as some sort of great achievement, than you are mistaken. I am a huge UL fan, but I cant say that beating NSU by 1 touchdown is anything to brag about. We wouldn't have been so lucky against any SBC opponent. As coach bustle said, both teams made enough mistakes to lose the game. We were lucky that we had two short fields to work with, and although that can be correctly attributed to our excellent special teams play, the fact that we relied on our special teams to beat NSU is a sign that we still have a LONG way to go. Don't take this the wrong way. I am not putting us down, but this win should not be seen as a sign of our program making forward progress.

I disagree. This win is a sign, albeit a small one, that we are making progress. Previous Cajun teams would have let them score in the final minutes. You have to remember that this is the best NSU team in several years. Included in that timeframe are 2 Demon wins over the Cajuns.

Also, you have to remember that this is the "growing pains" year. The bulk of Coach Bustle's recruits are Fr. and Soph. The best players of the previous coaching staff make up a small part of the team.

Massey Ratings as of 8/28
#137-Cajuns
#144-SMU
#146-Central Michigan
#151-Arkansas St.
#154-Northwestern St.
#157-UTEP
#160-Eastern Michigan
#163-ULM
#171-Buffalo
#173-Army

They have NSU ranked above 5 1-A teams. By the end of the year, both UL and NSU will be much higher.

http://www.mratings.com/rate/cf-m.htm

[CDeb]

Jeeeezus, some people know next to nothing about football.

Can anyone name the last time we beat a ranked I-AA team? It's been awhile. NSU is better than several teams on our schedule and they were gunning for this win big-time.

[TuffGuy84]

Originally posted by CDeb
Jeeeezus, some people know next to nothing about football.

Can anyone name the last time we beat a ranked I-AA team? It's been awhile. NSU is better than several teams on our schedule and they were gunning for this win big-time.

Thank god someone agrees with me. A win is a win. This is the same team that nearly beat Tulane last year, and did beat ULM last year. I think this NSU team could potentially be better than some of the SBC teams we face this year, and with that said, remember, although we could have lost, we could have also potentially won by a much larger amount. If we eliminate some small mistakes, we will be a good team.

Tuffguy

[RaginFan2]

"Thank god someone agrees with me. A win is a win. This is the same team that nearly beat Tulane last year, and did beat ULM last year. I think this NSU team could potentially be better than some of the SBC teams we face this year, and with that said, remember, although we could have lost, we could have also potentially won by a much larger amount. If we eliminate some small mistakes, we will be a good team."

Good call, Tuffguy. I agree with you.

[Turbine]

Thanks to the Advertiser for the front page article.

The home town, University of Louisiana deserves it.

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. — Ragin’ Cajun players woke up with an unusual feeling on Sunday, the kind of feeling that only comes after winning a season opener.

Saturday’s soggy 14-7 triumph over visiting Northwestern State was the first opening win for Louisiana since 2001 over Nicholls State, and the last such victory before that came over Tulane to begin the 1990 season.

Obviously, then, it was special, and it was fitting that Cajun special teams played a hand in the victory.

Both Cajun touchdowns were set up by big plays in the kicking game.

On the first score, a bad snap forced NSU punter Ricky Joe Meeks to scramble for the ball. But Kemmie Lewis shoved him out of the way and recovered for the Cajuns at the Demons’ 10-yard line.

Wide receiver Lewis is one of several Cajun starters used by coach Rickey Bustle on his “Pride and Joy” units for just such an opportunity.

Four plays later, Jerry Babb dashed around left end for a 2-yard touchdown.

Northwestern State answered with a solid drive, and attempted to get closer with a 35-yard Josh Storrs field goal attempt.

But Ken Haynes stormed through to block the try and Michael Adams dashed 50 yards to the NSU 25 with the recovery.

That led to Babb’s 10-yard scoring pass to a wide-open Travis Smothers and the 14-0 Cajun lead.

Another impressive effort was turned in by deep snapper Justin Venable, who hustled downfield under a Mike Mayeaux punt to bat the ball back into the field of play so the Cajuns could down it on the NSU 3-yard line.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

post game Traditional Victory arms raised, with UL hand signs

[manizzle]

Rebuilding a football program is a long and involved process, feuled by forward progress. All Im saying is that its too early to start patting ourselves on the backs because if we only look at the scoreboard, we will never correct our most apparrent weaknesses.

[Turbine]

Next week I hope our Linebackers bring their "A" game because RB Ryan Moats is scary.

[Cajun1997]

This will be the 85th meeting between UL and LaTech.